In looking for the most direct way into the present moment experience it is often acknowledged that the breath is a great place to start. That may be true but certainly alongside the breath or not too far behind would be the 5 senses. Focusing attention on the 5 senses is a sure way to connect to the body and therefore bring yourself into the present moment. It’s also a fun way to enhance our life experience by going deeply into each sense. We can take turns isolating each sense and making that sense our object of attention in our mindfulness experience. There are some activities that allow us to explore all 5 senses. Eating is an example of such an activity and is a fun way to bring mindfulness into our everyday lives. Each sense allows us to deeply explore our experience and at the same time connects us with the present moment through our bodies. Mindful eating is traditionally done slowly but if time is scarce we can still eat mindfully at any speed. With the kind of lives we live in our culture we need to be able to adapt our mindfulness to the reality at hand. If that means being mindful and eating quickly…well then, so be it. Exercising the 5 senses this way can enliven senses that have been dulled by years of inattention.
….or you can combine all 5 senses into a holistic way of experiencing much like what was described in the classic sci-fi book Stranger in a Strange Land. In that book our world is viewed through the eyes of a Martian who is visiting our planet and experiences by “grokking” or blending all 5 senses into a holistic intuitive experience. From Wikipedia: “Grok /ˈɡrɒk/ is a word coined by Robert A. Heinlein for his 1961 science-fiction novel, Stranger in a Strange Land, where it is defined as follows:
Grok means to understand so thoroughly that the observer becomes a part of the observed—to merge, blend, intermarry, lose identity in group experience. It means almost everything that we mean by religion, philosophy, and science—and it means as little to us (because of our Earthling assumptions) as color means to a blind man.”
In my experience, the blending/merging of the 5 senses produces this Grok experience. This came with practice and seems to be a natural progression of fully experiencing the 5 senses. Grokking need not be reserved only for Martians… ????